Sukhwinder Singh Guraya’s tour is called “Mystery of Chakras”. It presents a dance creation entertainingly explaining the highly complex internal subtle non-physical functions of human body using six-chakra system of Tantrism. Australian and India artists will collaborate to present centuries old Indian Tantric traditions and indigenous Odissi dance that have deep seated connections in Indian culture.
In his conversation with SBS Punjabi, Sukhwinder Singh Goraya mentioned that he started his initial Odissi training in 1968 at the tender age of five with his mother Kirpal Kaur Goraya. She taught him the basics and the conventional framework of Odissi. Sukhwinder mentioned that he was fascinated by the dance form, especially the Tantrik form where the male energy, Tandava transitions into a female energy Lasya, a move which is very difficult to master.
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“I was fascinated by it, I wanted to learn it and master it. I made up my mind that I have to do it.”
Even though Sukhwinder used to practice and learn Odissi from his mother, his friends and extended family in India were not aware of his interest. He didn’t perform much in front of his father either. It was only his mother, he said, who knew about it and nurtured this talent in him.
As he grew older, he stopped performing the dance and focused on his studies, higher education and sports. It was only after he migrated to Australia, that he started performing Odissi again, first with a Chandrabhanu's Bharatam Dance Company for many years in various productions, then on his own.
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Now, he is embarking on a nation-wide tour performing “Mystery of Chakras” for his audience. However, his tour is not just for the purpose of performing this art form. The purpose of his performance is to help underprivileged artists and to collaborate with exceptional talent from India by providing them a platform to engage with Australian audience.
“My aim is to help the disadvantaged children in India and also to give a platform to young artists to perform and preserve this art form.”
Sukhwinder always performs for raising funds for various organisations in India that either feed the poor and underprivileged children or support organisations that are working hard to preserve the dance form in India for future generations.
“The proceeds from this event will be used to provide hope and assistance to those who, unfortunately, often go without life’s essentials.”
Not only this, Sulhwinder hopes that through his tour, he will build stronger ties between India and Australia.
“My aim is to support and promote artists, enhance cross cultural awareness and build stronger cultural ties between India and Australia.”
Sukhwinder’s tour will not only perform nation-wide this time but he has also decided to take his performance to Auckland.
His tour “Mystery of Chakras” starts in Sydney on the 13th of October, Adelaide on 22nd October, Melbourne on the 27th and 28th October and Auckland, NZ on the 4th of November.
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Sukhwinder Singh Guraya is not only an Odissi exponent but also holds four Masters degrees and a Ph.D. in the field of Mathematics and Oceanography.
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